Velan Inc. announced as part of the planned succession of the company`s finance department, the appointment of Benoit Alain as its new Chief Financial Officer. Beginning as Special Advisor to the CEO, M. Alain will undertake his official responsibilities as CFO on June 1, 2021. He will be a key member of the company's Senior Management team and will succeed John Ball, who has been effectively carrying out his mandate as interim Chief Financial Officer since last January. As of June 1, Mr. Alain will report directly to Yves Leduc, CEO, as well as the Chair of the Audit Committee of Velan Inc. Benoit Alain, an international executive, began his career at Raymond Chabot Martin Paré, and progressed to lead finance departments in the manufacturing industry, culminating with senior roles in ArcelorMittal and Cascades. At ArcelorMittal, he held successive CFO roles for Canada, North America, and the mining group, of which he eventually became the Chief Marketing Officer. He joined Cascades as CFO of the Tissue Group and eventually led two of its major business units, with P&Ls up to $600 million in sales. He left Cascades to join Atis as CEO where he remained two years, enacting important strategic, financial, and organizational changes while leading the company through the global pandemic. Benoit will assume leadership of Velan's global finance department, bringing along his complete finance and business leadership experience, which includes having carried out multiple M&A transactions throughout his career. John Ball will continue to act as interim CFO until June 1, and thereafter report to Benoit, resuming his previous role as EVP Global Finance, having previously served as Velan's CFO for fifteen years.